Chizik: Aggies, Tigers will ‘play tail off’ in SEC

“I don’t think a lot of people are giving Texas A&M and Missouri the credit they deserve,” Chizik said this afternoon at the SEC media days. “… Missouri and Texas A&M aren’t coming into the SEC with their hats in their hands saying, ‘Thank you for letting me be here.’ They’re coming in here to compete and play their tail off. You can bank on that.”

Meanwhile LSU coach Les Miles, a former Oklahoma State coach, chimed in on the addition of the Aggies and Tigers as the SEC’s 13th and 14th teams, respectively.

“They’ll really add to our conference,” Miles said. “The Aggies bring a very, very capable team, and (Texas) is a very lucrative recruiting area. They bring the experience of a real quality conference. They’ll (both) step in and be able to compete on a very even basis very quickly.”

Another former Texas coordinator, Florida’s Will Muschamp, added his thoughts on the new kids on the (big) block.

“You look at what Kevin (Sumlin) and (offensive coordinator) Kliff (Kingsbury) did at Houston – they put up video game numbers on offense,” Muschamp said. “Kevin did a great job at Houston. Moving to Texas A&M, I won’t see anything different. They’ll recruit very well, and there’s a great recruiting base in College Station.

“Both schools will do very well and blend in very well for our conference.”